- Title: SOUTH AFRICA/FILE: Tutu says Mugabe must go - by force if necessary
- Date: 6th December 2008
- Summary: HARARE, ZIMBABWE (DECEMBER 5, 2008) (REUTERS) HARARE STREET PEOPLE WALKING IN STREET VARIOUS OF MEN REPAIRING BROKEN WINDOW
- Embargoed: 21st December 2008 12:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVA416L4E4UD79MDZFV0746NJG3Y
- Story Text: On the streets of Harare, broken glass is a sign of yet another demonstration in the Zimbabwe capital. Analysts say the number of protests has increased sharply in recent days, with issues like the cholera outbreak and shortages of currency increasing the frustration of ordinary Zimbabweans.
Zimbabwe has declared a national emergency and appealed for international help as it battles a cholera outbreak that has killed 570 people with 12,700 reported cases of the disease. Hopes of rescue from the humanitarian crisis are complicated by the deadlock between Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai over how to implement a power-sharing pact.
South Africa's Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a Nobel peace laureate, said late on Thursday (December 4) that Robert Mugabe must step down or be removed by force.
In an interview on the Dutch current affairs show Nova, Tutu said African nations should use military force to depose Mugabe if he refuses to relinquish power.
Tutu, the retired Anglican archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa, said another option would be to threaten Mugabe with prosecution at the Hague-based International Criminal Court, although he did not say on what charges.
Mugabe "is destroying a wonderful country," said Tutu, who has long been among Mugabe's sharpest critics. "A country that used to be a bread basket ... has now become a basket case itself needing help."
Tutu said that if necessary African countries should remove Mugabe by force. Referring to the African Union and the 15-nation Southern African Development Community Tutu said, "If they say to him 'step down!' and he refuses, they must go and do so militarily. The AU, SADC, yes, I mean they've got the, they've got the capacity."
Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga also spoke out saying it was time for African governments to "take decisive action to push him out of power". - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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